


The Inevitable Regret For A Soul

by WhisperingSkies



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Blood, Death Himself, Greek Mythology - Freeform, How Gabriel Got Messed Up, M/M, Reapers, Religious Gabe, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Temporary Character Death, War, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-14
Updated: 2018-06-14
Packaged: 2019-05-22 00:33:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14926010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhisperingSkies/pseuds/WhisperingSkies
Summary: Gabriel Reyes tries to find a way to bargain with Death, and ends up falling deep into a mess he didn't know could touch him.





	The Inevitable Regret For A Soul

It all happened so fast. Gabriel was left spinning, his mind thrusting his rationality into a catapult and pulling the lever to rocket all sense into the chasm below. One moment he was right next to Jesse, and the next he was being told the kid had been shot. As he scrambled towards the riverbank where Jesse lay bleeding, he mumbled a prayer over and over, the syllables just a whisper of breath on his lips. 

“Hail Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death...” 

Jesse looked much worse than he’d imagined. Blood soaked the dirt beneath where he lay, curled protectively around one of the major wounds. One hand was pressed over the injuries, while the other lay useless, still white-knuckled and gripping his revolver.  
Three strangers’ bodies were strewn about at random points in the foliage nearby, singular bullet holes decorating their foreheads; unimportant, by Gabriel’s standard. Just three bad men- three bad men who had potentially killed the love of his life, three bad men who Jesse had hit with perfect accuracy; too little too late. 

As he approached, boots sinking in the new mud risen from the liquid red, Jesse feebly lifted his head to greet him with a smile. 

“Hey, boss.”  
His voice cracked at the end. 

Gabriel knelt, not caring about the blood soaking into the knees of his new fatigues. He turned his head towards the others.

“Get me an evac, now!” 

Whatever agents that had followed him didn’t come close, saluting before returning to their duties of holding the perimeter and contacting the emergency evacuation team. 

“Jesse, I need you to listen to me. Where are you wounded?” 

“I jus’… I heard somethin’ over here an’ I thought I’d go see if it was a squirrel or somethin’...” The cowboy coughed, a small trickle of crimson making its’ way out over his lip. His drawl was heavier, slurred, as his eyes struggled to focus on Gabriel. “But it was these guys, an’ they were sneakin’ up on ya, an’ I got one of ‘em right off the bat but there was three an’...”  
Another cough.  
“I wasn’t quick enough. M’ sorry, Gabey.” 

Shaking his head, Gabriel reached out, gently moving the young agent’s hand away from the wound; he didn’t mean to let out the sharp breath that followed. Jesse’s shirt was torn, peppered with bullet holes. At first glance, Gabriel counted five different wounds, all bleeding. He covered them with his own hand, putting pressure on them despite Jesse’s hiss of pain. 

“You did great, baby. Don’t worry. I’m so proud of you.” 

Jesse grinned, his eyes slipping closed for a moment before fluttering open again. 

“Hey, hey. Stay with me.”  
Gabe turned over his shoulder again, calling out angrily. “Where’s that evac?” 

One of his agents looked towards the ground. “Morrison said not to derail the entire op just for one injury.” 

Rage flooded Gabriel’s heart, ordering the agent to ignore Morrison’s orders and force the emergency evacuation vehicle to arrive now before his attention turned back to Jesse. 

“Help is on the way, Jess. Hold on.” 

The cowboy smiled sadly, grabbing Gabriel’s free hand with his own bloody one.  
“Gabe. I love ya more than anythin’ else in the world. Don’t work yr’self too hard.” 

“You are not dying,” Gabe maintained. “Don’t even talk like that.” He felt tears welling up in his eyes, hating himself for it. Squeezing his hand, Jesse managed to lean up towards Gabriel, planting a weak kiss on his lips. 

“I think… the worst thing about dyin’ is gonna be how much I’m gonna miss ya.” 

“I love you,” Gabriel whispered. Jesse flashed him a trademark grin, slightly more bloody than usual, before his eyes shut and he went limp. 

\- 

The evac showed up eventually. Gabriel carried Jesse’s unconscious body bridal-style onto the aircraft, mentally praying he’d be able to carry him like this over the threshold of their home sometime in the future. 

Jesse McCree was pronounced dead exactly 38 hours later. 

\- 

In the following weeks, Gabriel barely left his room. Ana and Angela were frequent visitors, always shunned away by the excuse of paperwork. Meals left for him went uneaten, the higher-ups threatened his job, and Jack refused to speak a word to anyone about where Commander Reyes had gone. 

His mourning rose to the breaking point soon after. Gabriel cast away his beliefs, falling into a void of spiritual drift. Days and nights alike were spent awake and wondering, searching desperately for someone to blame, someone to bargain with- and find someone he did. 

 

\- 

It comes in the night- a twisting, inky mass of forgotten dreams and everlasting regrets, materializing at the foot of Gabriel’s bed as he lay awake, recounting what it was exactly that landed him here. 

“You are the one who curses the gods,” it groans out, a voice akin to whispers and grinding stones all at once.

Gabriel, refusing to let the creature see his trembling hands, stands.  
“I am.” 

It studies him, taking long, wheezing breaths. Gabriel can’t make out any semblance of eyes underneath the shadowy veil shrouding its’ visage. 

“And you wish… for a change? You wish to correct what you see as their mistakes.” 

He nods, trying to appear stronger than the bags underneath his eyes betray him to be. 

“Gods do not make mistakes,” the thing hisses. “Your soul aches with loss. I have seen many like you.” 

Gabriel bites his tongue for a moment, considering his words. Choose your battles.  
“If you’re here to smite me, get it over with.” 

It laughs, something deep and echoing through Gabriel’s very being.  
“No. I merely wished to see the man who dared to blame.” 

The blackness ripples, turning away from him in a stance signaling it aims to leave. 

“Take my soul,” he blurts. No fear passes over him as the being turns its’ shadowed head. 

“You play a fool’s game.” 

“Please,” Gabriel whispers, throat raw and tears impending. “I’ll do anything to bring him back. He had his whole life ahead of him.” 

Shuddering back in Gabriel’s direction, the thing extends its’ hand, pressing the cold silhouette to his chest. 

“Your regret will take hold of you. It will destroy you from the inside, and once you know this and beg for mercy, I will return.” 

The pain that follows is indescribable. 

 

\- 

A few nights later Jesse returns, missing an arm and eyes glazed over. It’s like it used to be, for a while.  
Eventually, Gabe comes clean and tells him about the thing in the night, and what he’d done.  
He doesn’t speak to Gabriel much after that. 

Years pass.

Gabriel starts to see the change within himself, and it breaks his heart. He leaves base as quickly as he can, stealing away into the night during the explosion he’d instructed Moira to concoct. 

He lives on the run; an abandoned safehouse here, an alley there- anywhere he can rest for a night or two. He’s thankful the taste of everything soon mimics ash, falling to dust on his tongue. Food becomes something of the past; as does sleep, laughter, and love.

\- 

It returns to him one night, after Reaper has unmasked and undressed- after he has become as close to human as he can get. 

“Do you regret this? What you have become?”  
The voice seems to permeate his mind from everywhere and nowhere all at once.

Reaper stands strong, willing the bloody tears away. 

“Never.” 

“I do not believe you.” 

 

Deafening silence resounds, and as Reaper watches, the thing shakes its’ head.

“You are unlike any other, Gabriel Reyes.” 

It vanishes without another word.

Sinking to the floor, Reaper presses the palm of his shadowed hand to his shell of a chest, the skin flaking away even at the slightest breath. 

Jesse is out there; that he knows.  
He’s out there, alive, and that makes this all worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! I think this is my proudest work to date. I took a lot of time on this one. It was originally created for the Talon Fanzine run by catstealerszines :)


End file.
